Sacred Society Battle League
In 1999, Ell Oh Crew battlers Axe and Fam Nice branched out to create the modern battle league format. Sacred Society (formerly known as New Jerusalem) was the first full fledged battle rap website and resulted in what was the best looking and most modern hip hop website of the early 21st century. Unlike EOC, Sacred Society had interviews, hip hop news, a poets corner, and tournaments with rookie and pro levels. Since 2006 they have released seven collaborative albums with their last being Catacombs in 2014. The top ten battlers of New Jeru/Sacred were also ranked every month and the top spot was known as the Supreme Lyricist. However, the award most highly sought out by battlers was the Esco Award for the emcee with the grimiest, darkest content and style. Fam Nice was at Valdosta State University studying fines art and website design and was arguably the most popular battler online prior to the internet becoming a prevalent avenue for music. His knowledge of website design and battle rap resulted in what was the best looking graphic based hip hop website of the 1990s and one of the first online hip hop news sites. However, it was first and foremost a battle league. Sacred Society had interviews, hip hop news, tournaments with rookie and pro levels known as the Boot Camp and the Gravel Pit and big yearly tournaments were known as Pay-Per-View. There was a cash pot and the winner took all. PPV 8 being the last of these tournaments. Sacred Society was the most respected and well known battle league of its time and its format has been copied by almost every known battle league to date, including URL which today is ostensibly purported as the most popular battle league. To quote Fam Nice, "all they did was add a camera". Much like Steve Jobs did with Apple computers; the modernization, competition format, and design contributions of Fam Nice sent a giant ripple through the battle rap universe. "I reached out to many other battle leagues online at that time. I would send them a link to Sacred Society in hopes of connecting and building on the sport of battle rapping; however, many wouldn't ever respond back. Weeks later, I would see implementation of my ideas on their sites as well as other ideas and suggestions that I offered." - Fam Nice From the late 90s until 2008 Sacred Society was without a doubt the premier battle league and a notable part of Hip hophistory as it pertains to being at the forefront of the new age internet boom. Most were hesitant in taking the online route; however, it has become a major marketing tool for most current music trends. Fam Nice was one of the first emcees and producers to take the risk of doing almost 90 percent of his ventures online. His last album, "Phreedom in a Cage" was solely released on Myspace for free download. That venture and effort would become a blueprint for many mix tapes and albums that would follow (See Mickey Factz's leak project). When online video technology advanced battle leagues such as Grind Time, King of the Dot, and Don't Flop essentially took over as the upmost mainstream battle rap leagues, but Fam Nice and Sacred Society will always be remembered as a pioneer and the battle league which brought modernization and mass media popularity to the lyrical sport of battle rap. Sacred Society albums Category:Sacred Society Battle League Category:Battle Rap Leagues Category:Rap Battle League Category:New Jerusalem Battle Leauge Category:Fam Nice Category:Axe Category:Battle Rap